4 Marquet Street

MERRIWA NSW 2329

Phone: (02) 6548 2035

Email: admin@merriwa.catholic.edu.au Wednesday 4 December 2019

Week 8 1/12 2/12 3/12 4/12 5/12 6/12 7/12

1st Sunday of Advent

Kinder transition 9am-12noon

2.40pm Liturgy/

Assembly

Library

Canteen Newsletter

School Captains

Speeches 10.30am

Swimming

4pm Attachment in

Teens presentation

Swimming

Reports on Compass

Week 9 8/12 9/12 10/12 11/12 12/12 13/12 14/12

Mass 8.30am

7pm Town Christmas

Carols Apex Park

Year 6 Retreat

2.40pm Liturgy/Assembly

Presentation Night 6pm

School of Arts

Swimming Swimming Carnival

Mass

6.00pm

Week 10 15/12 16/12 17/12 18/12 19/12 20/12 21/12

11.00am Liturgy

6pm End of Year

Mass 7pm Year 6 Dinner

Gummun Place/Hostel Visit

Family disco social

night—Anglican Hall

Canteen

Carols in Bettington Street

Secret Santa exchange

STUDENTS’ LAST DAY

PUPIL FREE DAY PUPIL FREE DAY Last day for staff

School closes

Week 1 26/1 27/1 28/1 29/1 30/1 31/1 1/2

Mass 8.30am

AUSTRALIA DAY

AUSTRALIA DAY HOLDAY

STUDENTS YRS 1-6 RETURN

KINDER BEST

START

KINDER BEST START

Mass

6.00pm

PUPIL FREE DAY

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 23/12/19—27/1/20

PUPIL FREE DAY

Stay awake and stand ready! Take time to look. Take time to listen. Take time to be still and reflective. Take time for yourself. Take time to unwind and slow down. Put aside the busyness, the chaos, the dramas. Put on the cloak of calmness. Be still. Take time to remember. Take time to reconnect with the people and events of significance. Take time. Take time to explore the unexpected....Take time. Take time to listen to the voice in the wilderness. Take time. Take time to remember. Take time to reflect. Take time….

Sacred Celebrations for Advent & Christmas ~ Rina Wintour

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We are only two full weeks away from the end of the school year. It is amazing to have travelled so far, in such a short space of time.

Thank you to the staff, students, parents and wider community for all your support this year.

Reports Student reports will be uploaded to Compass on Friday afternoon, if all goes according to plan.

Please take the time to not just look at the grades your child receives, but also the comments. The teachers work very hard to write about the effort, demeanour and capacity your child has for learning.

I have always felt that the comments give a greater insight into how a child performs than the actual grade, although we know that the grade is important.

We are very proud of all that our students have achieved this year and you should be too.

There is an opportunity to discuss your child’s report with your teacher. Please ensure that you contact your teacher directly to make an appointment.

Staffing 2020 We have almost concluded our recruitment processes for 2020 in terms of staffing. We interviewed for a teacher to work with us on a 0.5FTE (5 days per fortnight) basis, to work with Mrs Hagley.

We will still be working with an Infants class, however, for the most part, will be operating as two separate entities, in order to maximise learning opportunities for students.

I am pleased to announce our classes for 2020 will look as follows:

Kindergarten: Mrs Hagley / TBA

Stage One: Miss Sammi Love

Stage Two: Miss Naomi Rodwell

Stage Three: Mrs Anne Marie Peebles /

Mr Ashley Borg

Library: Mrs Laura Smede

Learning Support: Mrs Tania Ninness

Diocesan Public Speaking Success Abbey Rostron (Kindergarten), Jeremiah Raines (Stage One) and Jeremy Hopkins (Stage Two) represented St Joseph’s at the recent Diocesan Public Speaking competition, held at the Victor Peters Suite at the Catholic Schools Office in Newcastle.

Students in Kindergarten and Stage One prepared and delivered one speech, where as Stage Two and Three students not only had to prepare and deliver a first speech, but an impromptu speech as well!

Preparation time for the regular speeches was one hour, where our older students had only ten minutes to prepare a short speech on their impromptu speeches.

Abbey presented a speech on “Grandparents” and by all accounts was outstanding! She finished in third place overall, a sensational effort!

Jeremiah presented a speech on “”Honesty” and finished in an excellent fourth place, having impressed the adjudicators with his voice projection.

Jeremy also finished in overall fourth place with his two speeches on “Respect” as well as his impromptu speech on “Forgiveness”.

We are very proud of all our students for their great efforts. St Joseph’s continues to “punch above our weight class”.

We are, by enrolment, the third smallest school of 55 schools in the Catholic Schools Diocese of Maitland Newcastle. The results we have achieved this year in Public Speaking, Maths and Spelling Bees and our efforts in the debating competition are testament to our ever-changing approach to student learning coming first.

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School Captains This year will see the first election of a School and Vice-Captain in some time. The Year Five students have been working to a Leadership Criteria throughout the last three terms in order to better understand the high standards we are trying to reach as a collective group of students for our leaders.

On Wednesday, students will have delivered their speeches, outlining the many reasons why they believe they should be voted in as the school captain, or vice-captain.

Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 will vote for their preferred candidate, as well as the staff vote.

The School Captain and Vice-Captain will be announced at the Presentation Night, to be held at the School of Arts, on 11 December.

Swimming Lessons It was great to get in the water with the students and assist them in their learning to swim journeys.

We thank all of our parents and teachers, especially Mrs Peebles, Mrs McLaren and Mrs Collins, who have specific training in this area. St Joseph’s is very lucky to be blessed with so many qualified swim teachers!

Calendar 5 December – Attachment in Teens Presentation 4pm

6 December – Reports on Compass

9 December – Year Six Retreat

11 December – Presentation Night

12 December – Swimming Lessons

13 December – Swimming Carnival

16 December – End of Year Mass /Year 6 Dinner

17 December – Gummun Place / Hospital visit

18 December – Carols in the Main Street / Student’s Last Day

20 December – Last Day for Staff (School Closes)

Attachment in Teens Presentation – Thursday 5 December

Has your pre-teens/teen’s behaviour

changed and you don’t understand

why?

Are you struggling to relate to them or

understand them at times?

Is social media and the use of devices

becoming a daily struggle?

Our Upper Hunter school counsellor,

Hayley Maeder, will be presenting

information about what happens to a

child’s brain between the ages of 10-14

years.

She will talk about how a child’s

attachment changes in adolescents

and how that can impact their

relationships.

Hayley will talk about social media and

how to keep kids safe online.

Lastly, Hayley will provide clear

examples of how to maintain a secure

relationship with your child as they work

towards and transition into high school.

DETAILS

Date: Thursday 5 December

Time: 4pm - 5pm

Venue: Joey's Room

All community members welcome.

Ashley Borg

Principal

ashley.borg@mn.catholic.edu.au

More information tomorrow

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To staff, parents and students of St Joseph’s I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you for making me feel so welcome and included in our school environment. I have thoroughly enjoyed my 3 years teaching at our wonderful school and I have learnt so much from all of you. I am grateful for the extra opportunities and experiences I have had whilst being here. At times it was challenging but was also very rewarding. St Joseph’s has been a terrific start for my teaching career. To the staff (current and previous), I cannot express how appreciative I am of all of you. Your guidance and wisdom has shaped me into the teacher I am today. I have always felt supported, listened to, encouraged and part of the team. You have all been very approachable and more than happy to help me. Thank you for nurturing me and making me a part of your families since day one. Parents, thank you for trusting me with your child or children’s education. Your ongoing support is something I will always be grateful for. Thank you for being approachable and working with me. Finally, to the students, thank you for allowing me to grow with you and for trusting me to teach you. You have taught me a lot along the way which has also made me a better teacher. You are the reason I love my job. I enjoyed getting to know you all and am grateful for the strong relationships that we built together. I will be forever grateful and will always remember and cherish my experience here at St Joseph’s Merriwa and the friendships I have made. I am looking forward to my new adventure and experience in

Townsville.

Rachel Houlahan

Would you like to relive the fun and entertainment of our school play—Stars and Strengths?

We will have copies available on DVD for $5 each.

If you would like one (or more!), please place your order with Sally in the office by Friday.

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VISIBLE WELLBEING

The Strength focus this week is –

Strength focus for next week is –

https://www.growyourmind.life/

What does it look like in our classroom?

We don’t need to show off when we do well

When we are in the wrong we don’t need to distort the information to make ourselves appear better

What does it look like in our playground?

We don’t brag even when we play really well

We notice if we speak more than others in a group and try listening more

What does it look like in our classroom?

We have our hand up to answer a question and everyone seems to be getting picked before us.

We remain calm and wait for our turn

What does it look like in our playground?

A game doesn’t go our way and we accept we cannot always control everything

https://www.growyourmind.life

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Kinder

Archy Wallace – for always being a

leader of learning through being on task

and engaged in learning tasks.

Abbey Rostron – for demonstrating

bravery and commitment in all aspect

of her learning.

Stage 1

Jett Turner - for displaying decoding

strategies when writing unfamiliar

words during writing tasks.

Isabel Williams – for demonstrating

forgiveness in her daily actions

Stage 2

Emma McLaren – for demonstrating

leadership by always listening to other

people’s points of view and being fair

in group work.

Caitlin Harrison – for displaying terrific

effort, improvement and enthusiasm in

gymnastics.

Archie Constable - for outstanding

effort with his homework this year and

always completing it and handing it in

on time.

Jeremy Hopkins - for outstanding effort

with his homework this year and

always completing it and handing it in

on time.

Lula Peebles - for outstanding effort

with her homework this year and

always completing it and handing it in

on time.

Annabelle Hunt - for outstanding effort

with her homework this year and

always completing it and handing it in

on time.

Rihanna Hunt - for outstanding effort

with her homework this year and

Congratulations to our award winners for Weeks 6 & 7

always completing it and handing it in

on time.

Jye Bates – for regularly demonstrating

forgiveness by forgiving people and

giving them second chances.

Stage 3

Emily Wright - for outstanding effort in

all aspects of gymnastics

Matthew Grady - for facing a challenge

and doing it with a positive attitude to

achieve great results

Bethany Wightman- for demonstrating

leadership in a quiet confident manner

Pia Henderson - for demonstrating

forgiveness when dealing with her

friends in difficult situations

William Collins - for great participation

during spelling activities demonstrating

morphological knowledge

Principal’s Awards

Bethany Wightman – for her excellent

research in Science

Jeremy Hopkins – for his hard work in

all areas of the curriculum

Eden Barry – for her efforts, in

particular, improvement of reading

Lily Schmidt – for her positive greetings

in the mornings

Arfan Isam – for being an outstanding

example of leadership at St Joseph’s.

Abbey Rostron – for representing the

school brilliantly at Diocesan Public

Speaking.

Jeremiah Raines – for his efforts at

Diocesan Public Speaking.

Jeremy Hopkins – for his efforts at

Diocesan Public Speaking.

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It’s Advent! Advent began on Sunday.

Advent is a time when we are reminded to be prepared and ever watching

for the sign of God in our lives. It may mean that we might have to change

direction and change our thoughts to listen to what God wants us to do.

The Christian season of Advent is becoming more and more counter cultural.

As the world speeds up in the race to Christmas, and as Christmas decorations and carols abound, Advent invites Christians to slow down, to

pay attention to our deepest longings and hopes, to pray and reflect, to be

uncluttered and unhurried, as we prepare to celebrate the mystery of

Christ’s birth at Christmas.

For a joyful and quirky explanation of the relevance of Advent today watch

Advent in 2 minutes video by BustedHalo.com. The stage 3 students watched this and really enjoyed the messages and quick explanation.

https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/church-mission/catholic-life/liturgy/

liturgical-year/

Vinnies Christmas Appeal

Once again let us be Christ to others by

contributing to our local Vinnies appeal.

Children are invited to donate money to our

local Vinnies team. This money will go

towards assisting our locals make Christmas

special. A box will be placed in the front

office for any donations.

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Anne Marie Peebles

REC

Year 6 Retreat – Monday 9th December Next Monday Year 6 will participate in a Year 6 retreat which will give them

time to reflect on their primary years and look forward to what the future has in store for them, knowing that St Joseph’s and the friends they have

made along the way have contributed to the person which they are becoming.

Please keep Year 6 in your prayers.

End of Year Mass Monday 16th December we will be celebrating our End of School Year

Mass. This is a wonderful celebration where we are given the opportunity to

thank God for the year which is quickly coming to an end. During this Mass

Year 6 will also officially graduate from primary school. We invite everyone

to be part of this celebration commencing at 6pm at St Anne's Church.

https://www.stritasparish.org/events/advent-pope-francis/

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SAVE THE DATE

St Joseph’s Primary School Annual Belonging Day

Friday 24th January 10am ~ 12 noon

Students & teachers in classrooms from

10:00 ~ 11:30

Parents & students invited for lunch

11:30 ~ 12 noon

We would like one or more volunteers from our

parent community to coordinate a gathering for our

parents to reconnect with a coffee at a local café.

Please contact the school if you are able to help.

Students had their last library lesson for the year yesterday as the following two Tuesdays will be devoted to administration and stocktake. We ask all families to check around the home for any outstanding library books. Students with outstanding loans have been given many reminders over the past few weeks and we thank all those who have found and returned their books. There are still a few out there and we would love you to help find and return them by next week. Students who have returned all their books (and are returning to school here next year) will have the opportunity to borrow for the holidays during the last week of term. Summer reading is fun, relaxing and helps your child avoid the “summer reading slide” - the loss of academic skills that occurs when school is not in session and which is attributed largely to the lack of reading. Last week we farewelled Ms Bradshaw who, along with husband Tim and children Bradley and Billy, will shortly be welcoming their new baby into the family. We will miss Ms Bradshaw immensely but look forward to seeing her out and about as the new year progresses. We also look forward to working with Mrs Smede next year. Sally Gilbey School Library Officer

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P & F would like to thank our recent Canteen Helpers — Leanne Hunt, Maree Goodear, Berna Gabriel & Tess Williams

7 Dec Towell family 14 Dec Turner family 21 Dec Wallace family 1 Feb Walters family

CANTEEN ROSTER 4 Dec Berna Gabriel & Tess Williams 13 Dec Swimming Carnival 18 Dec If you are able to assist in canteen please contact Teressa Williams on 0437 944 353

THANK YOU

to the Rostron & Smith families

who gave up some valuable

time recently to clean the

Aberdeen bus.

Best wishes to the members of our

school community who celebrate their birthday over the next two weeks ….

Thank you to all our families who supported our Redgum Book Fair.

Your generous purchases have eared us well over $200 in commission to purchase new books and resources for our library.

Your ongoing support is very much appreciated.